219 research outputs found

    Low Dimensional Nanostructures: Measurement and Remediation Technologies Applied to Trace Heavy Metals in Water

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    A nanostructure is a system in which at least one external dimension is in the nanoscale, it means a length range smaller than 100 nm. Nanostructures can be natural or synthetic and determine the physicochemical properties of bulk materials. Due to their high surface area and surface reactivity, they can be an efficient alternative to remove contaminants from the environment, including heavy metals from water. Heavy metals like mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), and chromium (Cr) are highly poisonous and hazardous to human health due to their non-biodegradability and highly toxic properties, even at trace levels. Thus, efficient, low-cost, and environmentally friendly methodologies of removal are needed. These needs for removal require fast detection, quantification, and remediation to have heavy metal-free water. Nanostructures emerged as a powerful tool capable to detect, quantify, and remove these contaminants. This book chapter summarizes some examples of nanostructures that have been used on the detection, quantification, and remediation of heavy metals in water

    Lifestyles, arterial aging, and its relationship with the intestinal and oral microbiota (MIVAS III study): a research protocol for a cross-sectional multicenter study

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    The microbiota is increasingly recognized as a significant factor in the pathophysiology of many diseases, including cardiometabolic diseases, with lifestyles probably exerting the greatest influence on the composition of the human microbiome. The main objectives of the study are to analyze the association of lifestyles (diet, physical activity, tobacco, and alcohol) with the gut and oral microbiota, arterial aging, and cognitive function in subjects without cardiovascular disease in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, the study will examine the mediating role of the microbiome in mediating the association between lifestyles and arterial aging as well as cognitive function.Methods and analysisMIVAS III is a multicenter cross-sectional study that will take place in the Iberian Peninsula. One thousand subjects aged between 45 and 74 years without cardiovascular disease will be selected. The main variables are demographic information, anthropometric measurements, and habits (tobacco and alcohol). Dietary patterns will be assessed using a frequency consumption questionnaire (FFQ) and the Mediterranean diet adherence questionnaire. Physical activity levels will be evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Marshall Questionnaire, and an Accelerometer (Actigraph). Body composition will be measured using the Inbody 230 impedance meter. Arterial aging will be assessed through various means, including measuring medium intimate carotid thickness using the Sonosite Micromax, conducting analysis with pulse wave velocity (PWA), and measuring pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) using the Sphygmocor System. Additional cardiovascular indicators such as Cardio Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI), ba-PWV, and ankle-brachial index (Vasera VS-2000Âź) will also be examined. The study will analyze the intestinal microbiota using the OMNIgene GUT kit (OMR−200) and profile the microbiome through massive sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), effect size (LEfSe), and compositional analysis, such as ANCOM-BC, will be used to identify differentially abundant taxa between groups. After rarefying the samples, further analyses will be conducted using MicrobiomeAnalyst and R v.4.2.1 software. These analyses will include various aspects, such as assessing α and ÎČ diversity, conducting abundance profiling, and performing clustering analysis.DiscussionLifestyle acts as a modifier of microbiota composition. However, there are no conclusive results demonstrating the mediating effect of the microbiota in the relationship between lifestyles and cardiovascular diseases. Understanding this relationship may facilitate the implementation of strategies for improving population health by modifying the gut and oral microbiota

    XXII Setmana Internacional de Cinema Fomatiu. L’Educació Lliure i el Cinema Formatiu

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    XXII Setmana Internacional de Cinema Fomatiu: L’EducaciĂł Lliure i el Cinema Formatiu. 21 al 25 de novembre de 2016. Sala d'actes. Palau de les heures. Campus Mundet, Universitat de Barcelona.Fa 22 anys vĂ rem iniciar, arrel de la celebraciĂł del centenari del naixement del cinema, una activitat que encara avui mantenim: la SETMANA DE CINEMA FORMATIU. Una activitat per a aprofundir en una estratĂšgia didĂ ctica a partir del model ORA, dissenyat per un col·lectiu de professorat pertanyent al grup GIAD, concretament Saturnino de la Torre, Maria de Borja, NĂșria Rajadell i Maria Dolors Millan. DesprĂ©s d‟haver superat ja dues dĂšcades seguim oferint aquest punt de trobada entre professorat i estudiants de diferents ensenyaments, amb la finalitat de debatre i reflexionar al voltant d‟una temĂ tica concreta, i, depenent de la temĂ tica seleccionada, i eixamplant la col·laboraciĂł amb altres institucions i professionals que treballen de manera especĂ­fica amb la temĂ tica seleccionada. El Seminari de Cinema Formatiu, depenent del GIAD (Grup d‟InvestigaciĂł i Assessorament DidĂ ctic) de la Facultat d‟EducaciĂł de la Universitat de Barcelona, promou aquesta activitat perĂČ Ă©s un seminari de treball i de recerca obert a totes aquelles persones que estiguin interessades en el cinema, i puntualment a aquelles persones que estan interessades per la temĂ tica especĂ­fica que es tracta al llarg de la Setmana. Alguns estudiants s‟han implicat i han passat a formar part del Seminari que l‟organitza. Aquest Ă©s l‟ùxit i la raĂł d‟aquesta activitat, la implicaciĂł i la participaciĂł, el diĂ leg i l‟expressiĂł de totes les persones que participen. Aquest any, arrel de l‟interessant debat que existeix en la nostra societat sobre la importĂ ncia, necessitat i eficiĂšncia de l‟actual Sistema Educatiu, i amb la incorporaciĂł d‟entitats que es troben mĂ©s enllĂ  de l‟AdministraciĂł i que han creat col·lectius per a aprofundir i visibilitzar la innovaciĂł educativa a les aules,hem considerat que podria ser interessant conĂšixer experiĂšncies mĂ©s aviat trencadores del sistema escolar en quĂš ens trobem immersos. Considerem interessant conĂšixer i reflexionar al voltant de propostes innovadores en el marc de l‟educaciĂł i la formaciĂł en un escenari complex, obert i global, com Ă©s en el que ens trobem immersos en aquests moments. Aquesta setmana comptem amb la col·laboraciĂł d‟un equip de professionals de diferents universitats i de diferents escoles catalanes que ens aportaran el seu coneixement des d‟un escenari privilegiat del nostre petit paĂ­s com Ă©s Catalunya. Comptem, a mĂ©s, amb una sĂšrie de pel·lĂ­cules que es visionaran i debatran en algunes de les classes, i amb una conferenciant que ha estat investigant en el marc de l‟educaciĂł lliure a ItĂ lia i a Catalunya, la Dra. Aurora Bosna

    Jardins per a la salut

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    Facultat de FarmĂ cia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de FarmĂ cia. Assignatura: BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, CĂšsar BlanchĂ© i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquĂ­ es presenten sĂłn el recull de les fitxes botĂ niques de 128 espĂšcies presents en el JardĂ­ Ferran Soldevila de l’Edifici HistĂČric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de l’assignatura BotĂ nica FarmacĂšutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte d’InnovaciĂł Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs s’han dut a terme a travĂ©s de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de l’assignatura. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat ha estat fomentar l’aprenentatge autĂČnom i col·laboratiu en BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica. TambĂ© s’ha pretĂšs motivar els estudiants a travĂ©s del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a travĂ©s d’una experiĂšncia d’Aprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a travĂ©s d’una Web pĂșblica amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardĂ­ mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone

    Fusarium: more than a node or a foot-shaped basal cell

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    Recent publications have argued that there are potentially serious consequences for researchers in recognising distinct genera in the terminal fusarioid clade of the family Nectriaceae. Thus, an alternate hypothesis, namely a very broad concept of the genus Fusarium was proposed. In doing so, however, a significant body of data that supports distinct genera in Nectriaceae based on morphology, biology, and phylogeny is disregarded. A DNA phylogeny based on 19 orthologous protein-coding genes was presented to support a very broad concept of Fusarium at the F1 node in Nectriaceae. Here, we demonstrate that re-analyses of this dataset show that all 19 genes support the F3 node that represents Fusarium sensu stricto as defined by F. sambucinum (sexual morph synonym Gibberella pulicaris). The backbone of the phylogeny is resolved by the concatenated alignment, but only six of the 19 genes fully support the F1 node, representing the broad circumscription of Fusarium. Furthermore, a re-analysis of the concatenated dataset revealed alternate topologies in different phylogenetic algorithms, highlighting the deep divergence and unresolved placement of various Nectriaceae lineages proposed as members of Fusarium. Species of Fusarium s. str. are characterised by Gibberella sexual morphs, asexual morphs with thin- or thick-walled macroconidia that have variously shaped apical and basal cells, and trichothecene mycotoxin production, which separates them from other fusarioid genera. Here we show that the Wollenweber concept of Fusarium presently accounts for 20 segregate genera with clear-cut synapomorphic traits, and that fusarioid macroconidia represent a character that has been gained or lost multiple times throughout Nectriaceae. Thus, the very broad circumscription of Fusarium is blurry and without apparent synapomorphies, and does not include all genera with fusarium-like macroconidia, which are spread throughout Nectriaceae (e.g., Cosmosporella, Macroconia, Microcera). In this study four new genera are introduced, along with 18 new species and 16 new combinations. These names convey information about relationships, morphology, and ecological preference that would otherwise be lost in a broader definition of Fusarium. To assist users to correctly identify fusarioid genera and species, we introduce a new online identification database, Fusarioid-ID, accessible at www.fusarium.org. The database comprises partial sequences from multiple genes commonly used to identify fusarioid taxa (act1, CaM, his3, rpb1, rpb2, tef1, tub2, ITS, and LSU). In this paper, we also present a nomenclator of names that have been introduced in Fusarium up to January 2021 as well as their current status, types, and diagnostic DNA barcode data. In this study, researchers from 46 countries, representing taxonomists, plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, and students, strongly support the application and use of a more precisely delimited Fusarium (= Gibberella) concept to accommodate taxa from the robust monophyletic node F3 on the basis of a well-defined and unique combination of morphological and biochemical features. This F3 node includes, among others, species of the F. fujikuroi, F. incarnatum-equiseti, F. oxysporum, and F. sambucinum species complexes, but not species of Bisifusarium [F. dimerum species complex (SC)], Cyanonectria (F. buxicola SC), Geejayessia (F. staphyleae SC), Neocosmospora (F. solani SC) or Rectifusarium (F. ventricosum SC). The present study represents the first step to generating a new online monograph of Fusarium and allied fusarioid genera (www.fusarium.org)

    Study of dijet events with large rapidity separation in proton-proton collisions at s \sqrt{s} = 2.76 TeV

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    The cross sections for inclusive and Mueller-Navelet dijet production are measured as a function of the rapidity separation between the jets in proton-proton collisions at s√ = 2.76 TeV for jets with transverse momentum pT > 35 GeV and rapidity |y| 20 GeV is introduced to improve the sensitivity to the effects of the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov (BFKL) evolution. The measurement is compared with the predictions of various Monte Carlo models based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order calculations including the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi leading-logarithm (LL) parton shower as well as the LL BFKL resummation

    Measurement of W±^{±}γ differential cross sections in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV and effective field theory constraints

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    Differential cross section measurements of W±γ production in proton-proton collisions at s\sqrt{s} =13  TeV are presented. The data set used in this study was collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in 2016–2018 with an integrated luminosity of 138  fb−1. Candidate events containing an electron or muon, a photon, and missing transverse momentum are selected. The measurements are compared with standard model predictions computed at next-to-leading and next-to-next-to-leading orders in perturbative quantum chromodynamics. Constraints on the presence of TeV-scale new physics affecting the WWÎł vertex are determined within an effective field theory framework, focusing on the O3W operator. A simultaneous measurement of the photon transverse momentum and the azimuthal angle of the charged lepton in a special reference frame is performed. This two-dimensional approach provides up to a factor of ten more sensitivity to the interference between the standard model and the O3W contribution than using the transverse momentum alone

    Azimuthal Correlations within Exclusive Dijets with Large Momentum Transfer in Photon-Lead Collisions

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    The structure of nucleons is multidimensional and depends on the transverse momenta, spatial geometry, and polarization of the constituent partons. Such a structure can be studied using high-energy photons produced in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions. The first measurement of the azimuthal angular correlations of exclusively produced events with two jets in photon-lead interactions at large momentum transfer is presented, a process that is considered to be sensitive to the underlying nuclear gluon polarization. This study uses a data sample of ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at sNN=5.02  TeV\sqrt{sNN}=5.02  TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.38  nb−10.38  nb^{−1}, collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measured second harmonic of the correlation between the sum and difference of the two jet transverse momentum vectors is found to be positive, and rising, as the dijet transverse momentum increases. A well-tuned model that has been successful at describing a wide range of proton scattering data from the HERA experiments fails to describe the observed correlations, suggesting the presence of gluon polarization effects

    First measurement of the forward rapidity gap distribution in p Pb collisions at √s^{s}NN = 8.16 TeV

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    For the first time at LHC energies, the forward rapidity gap spectra from proton-lead collisions for both proton and lead dissociation processes are presented. The analysis is performed over 10.4 units of pseudorapidity at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of √sNN=8.16  TeV, almost 300 times higher than in previous measurements of diffractive production in proton-nucleus collisions. For lead dissociation processes, which correspond to the pomeron-lead event topology, the epos-lhc generator predictions are a factor of 2 below the data, but the model gives a reasonable description of the rapidity gap spectrum shape. For the pomeron-proton topology, the epos-lhc, qgsjet ii, and hijing predictions are all at least a factor of 5 lower than the data. The latter effect might be explained by a significant contribution of ultraperipheral photoproduction events mimicking the signature of diffractive processes. These data may be of significant help in understanding the high energy limit of quantum chromodynamics and for modeling cosmic ray air showers
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